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Moriarty's DVD Shelf Review: ATL, Raymond Chandler POV, John Wayne, KOKO, and THE KILLING OF A CHINESE BOOKIE!

first by angrykirby.com	Aug 23rd, 2006 05:44:05 AM
frst
lady in the lake is a cool film by angrykirby.com	Aug 23rd, 2006 05:46:21 AM
i saw a praying mantace having a kid ontop of an atl box at blockbuster
Above post should explain why by Mister Man	Aug 23rd, 2006 07:16:58 AM
Loved "Lady in the Lake" as a kid.
I love how Brett Ratner... by DanielKurland	Aug 23rd, 2006 07:24:16 AM
Wants to remake The Killing of a Chinese Bookie more than anything, but won't do it because it's PT Anderson's favorite movie. And he knows he would kill him if he did.
Mori, you threw in that "exquisite" just to tease me. by Nordling	Aug 23rd, 2006 08:30:06 AM
Anxiously awaiting that review, sir.
RighteousBrother, all the 'cool kids' are in "The Zone" by CarmillaVonDoom	Aug 23rd, 2006 09:34:40 AM
Didn't you know that? ;^) Can't wait to see Koko, but it has been 'long wait' on my Nexflix queue for two weeks.
What idiot would ever consider remaking KOACB? by jigsaw	Aug 23rd, 2006 12:54:13 PM
Killing Of A Chinese Bookie is a classic Cassavetes character study. Even in the context of a gangster pic, it was never intended to be a visceral experience. Hypnotic, maybe, and certainly tragic. Not a fucking action film. Maybe Ratner should focus his remake desires on X3 instead.
Watch "Lady and the Lake" by Ardee-El	Aug 23rd, 2006 01:33:41 PM
while telling yourself that Orson Wells' original intention upon hitting Hollywood (before vice versa occurred), was to use this same technique, directing himself as an entirely different Marlow in his adaptation of "Heart of Darkness." Could he have made the technique work in a way Robert Montgomery did not? Might he have changed the course of film from that point forward? Or is it a failed technique that is ultimately unworkable? Fascinating imponderables...
I don't think very highly of Ratner, but... by Killah_Mate	Aug 23rd, 2006 01:35:50 PM
X3 wasn't really his fault; he got screwed by the studio as much as the rest of us. His one real mistake was agreeing to do it in the first place.
_chinese bookie_ -- "barely seen"?!?!?!? by duanejones	Aug 23rd, 2006 01:55:16 PM
relative to what? _killer of sheep_? _kid blue_? _the last movie_? _cisco pike_? _mikey & nicky_? _ganja & hess_? must i go on? well, i won't, list-wise, but i'll also observe that _bookie_ suffers from all of late cassavettes' work: self-regarding indolence masquerading as "honesty". i won't barrel down the list of absurdities the film wallows in -- e.g., gazzara has to first answer to all the thugs "at once", and somewhere along the way he becomes their best friend -- but as highly touted as cassavettes' "improvisation" has been, these drinking pals don't even rise to the standard of a touring second city troupe. _shadows_, _faces_ and one or two other films are brilliant and deserve their honored place in independent american cinema. everything else is generally worthy of unintentional laughter, no matter how brilliant individual performances (notably ms. rowlands) may be.
duanejones by jigsaw	Aug 23rd, 2006 02:21:22 PM
Say what? Cosmo never becomes friends with the gangsters, not for a moment. He loses money to them at the tables, and then they enlist him into their services to pay off the debt. End of story. They're ruthless, and they'd just as soon kill him but he's a pretty small fish. They use him to get the big fish. Pretty obvious. It's a not a film about gangsters, it's a film about a man (writ large) with dreams. Ben Gazzara gives one of the best performances of anyone, ever, as a man who is eternally gutted by his own pride. His delusions of grandeur are heartbreaking because of the seediness of his existence. All the minor characters (dancers, Mr. Sophistication) are fleshed out and yes, real. I could continue about the gritty cinematography, the sparse music, the particulars of the story development, and the subtlety of Cosmo's final scene, but suffice to say this is one of Cassavetes peak masterpieces.
jigsaw by duanejones	Aug 23rd, 2006 02:55:45 PM
say what, indeed. did you miss timothy agoglia carey referring to cosmo as his friend towards the end? oh, they're ruthless, alright, except when they have to hang out together and drink and bullshit. and, i'm sorry, there's nothing "subtle" about the final scenes in the film, everyone at the club with still more partying and horsing around, and killing time in the absence of a genuine denouement, narrative development notwithstanding. we may ultimately disagree, sir, but you'll have to do much better than this to convince me of your arguments, much less that _chinese bookie_ is a good film.
fair enough by jigsaw	Aug 23rd, 2006 03:29:43 PM
Not interested enough in convincing you of this film's greatness. I was of course referring to the scene when Cosmo wipes the blood off his jacket (you know that, though) and no, Cosmo is never friends with them. Timothy is a psychopath, not a pal. He does have an unhinged respect for Cosmo after the killings, which is perfectly in line with his characterer. You've no doubt given this film a fair shake by now. If it doesn's stick, c'est la vie.
very gracious, j. by duanejones	Aug 23rd, 2006 03:57:27 PM
i do wish later cassavettes stuck with me -- he is unique, but (IMO) painfully overrated. and i'll never find seymour cassel very threatening...
I killed a Chinese bookie once.... by fiester	Aug 23rd, 2006 06:07:10 PM
...problem was I wanted to kill again an hour later. Thank, I'll be here all week, try the veal.
Montgomery's "other" film by Lazarus Long	Aug 23rd, 2006 07:02:55 PM
Not too long ago Turner Classic Movies showed what seems to be another pretty obscure noir starring and directed by Robert Montgomery, Ride The Pink Horse. It's one of those border town affairs, Montgomery trying to track down some guy who owes him money, and get mixed up with a bunch of dirtbags. Pretty surreal at times, very original for the genre, and a far better film than Lady in the Lake. Hopefully one day this will make it to DVD, but I'm not holding my breath.
The Killing of a Chinese Bookie...a recommendation by StigMata	Aug 23rd, 2006 08:29:24 PM
I love The Killing of a Chinese Bookie/& Gazzara. I've found that Bogdanovich's Saint Jack/Gazzara's Jack Flowers character resonates in a similar way. More "gutter beauty." Huh, "gutter beauty" sums up 70's cinema nicely now that I think about it. Nice one, Moriarty.
I had no interest in seeing Koko until now by BigStar	Aug 24th, 2006 01:35:11 AM
but dammit, Moriarty, you changed my mind about it. Every review or mention I have seen of it does not really mention the humanity and tragedy that it seems to have, therefore making it seem like a PBS special (not that I don't incredibly enjoy PBS). As I dig deeper and deeper into film, I have to ask you all, especially Moriarty, how in the flying fuck do you make time to see all these movies? I've only seen around 100 this year and my rental list is filled with like 600 movies I haven't seen. If I could I'd become permanently attached to my couch and watch movies all day. Do I fall farther down into the rabbit hole of movie watching or do I hold back? I guess I think of all of you here as enablers, pushing me to my drug of choice.
How does 3 Godfathers compare to Tokyo Godfathers? by Lenny Nero	Aug 24th, 2006 01:57:54 AM
I love the anime with all my heart. Would it hit me just right again?
LennyNero... by TheRealMoriarty	Aug 24th, 2006 02:18:57 AM
... yeah, I think it would.
"Koko" is on my Netflix right now. by Zarles	Aug 24th, 2006 04:53:23 PM
Good pick, Mori. Only thing is that the word "platter" to describe a DVD is kinda annoying. Sorry. :p
speaking of Netflix by lynxpro	Aug 24th, 2006 05:20:37 PM
I seriously want to track down Jay & Silent Bob style the idiots who always seem to scratch and leave their thumbprints on every single disc I've been receiving lately. I shall have my revenge on the idiot who ruined chapter 17 of Syriana for me last night. At least I'll have Kinky Boots on Sept. 5th when it is released. I sure hope the anti-scratch coating on Blu-Ray discs are better than on current DVDs and not marketing hype...
Zarles... by TheRealMoriarty	Aug 24th, 2006 07:16:32 PM
... I'm not using it to describe a DVD. I have a five-disc changer in my office, and this was a review of all five discs that were in the platter at a particular time.
Ratner didn't get "screwed" on X3 by beamish13	Aug 26th, 2006 06:45:29 PM
The guy freely admits that he doesn't care if he doesn't have total authority on the films he directs. He's a stooge that will bow to any executive's whims...

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Moriarty's DVD Shelf Review: ATL, Raymond Chandler POV, John Wayne, KOKO, and THE KILLING OF A CHINESE BOOKIE!

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